A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

If you lower prices, people will buy. An unavoidable truth, all that crap they tried last year like Free SUV, Free Plasma TV, Free (FILL IN THE BLANK) did not work. The prices were too high.

These sellers finaly got a clue and holy smoke the stuff moved, they had to cut prices by 50% but the properties moved.

Truth is this is more bad news for sellers not good news, they will spin it like "it's all good", and say "well we hit bottom so now those of us that hung in there can raise prices" but that is not true. The only way the homes are going to move is if they cut prices.

Where did I hear "lower the price"? Oh yeah it was here.

The loans are not out there, this time around people are ONLY going to buy what they can afford.

The only worry is you might still get flippers in this market. Truth is, now is were flipping becomes an actual job and is needed with all the run down homes out there. It is no longer a get rich quick scam but an actual job with lots of risk and hard work.

It's great to see some coverage on this site about florida! Most of the coverage is in cali or az on this site. It is still enjoyable though due to I can relate to everything that is going on in phoenix is happening all over south florida. There is a long way to go to and there is sooo much supply. I totally agree with the comparable comment and this is going to have a longer term affect on prices. People who need to sell are f#CKed!!!

I love it at the end when that idiot newscaster comments about how this upswing in home buying means "a lot of new tax revenue for the city!"

Not when the prices for these fire sales drive the comps down for the entire development!

Lets see now, 50 more houses are owned by taxpayers, but the whole development’s assessed value just nose-dived by 50-75%. Just wait until the assessors turn in those figures to the city/county PTB. Can you say SHTF?

I wonder what the terms were to enable all these buyers to whip out $86,000-240,000 checks; sounds like another round of sheeple to be sheared.

And just wait 6mos to a year down the road when the remainders are going for $43,000-120,000. Ouch!

New York City risks losing more than 20,000 jobs in the high-paying financial sector over the next two years as the crisis in mortgage markets drives down Wall Street's profits, according to a report issued on Monday.

The city's Independent Budget Office, in its report, estimated that Wall Street's profits for 2007 will sink by more than 80 percent to the lowest level since 1994.

Profits for 2007 are expected to total just $3.2 billion, down from $20.9 billion in 2006, the report said.

Banks and brokerages account for almost 35 percent of all salaries and wages in New York City. Fallout from investments in the risky subprime mortgage market has forced Wall Street banks to write-down more than $150 billion -- and more red ink is expected.

"The economic situation is particularly precarious. If the problems affecting Wall Street and housing worsen, the recession will be deeper and the fiscal pressures on the city will quickly mount," said Ronnie Lowenstein, director of the Independent Budget Office.

Lowenstein said the projections do not include any impact from the buyout of Bear Stearns & Co Inc by JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan agreed to buy Bear, which until recently had been the fifth-biggest Wall Street investment bank, after Bear collapsed 10 days ago because large subprime losses and failing confidence in the firm prompted a run on the bank.

Wall Street's profits in 2008, however, are expected to double to $6.6 billion and rise again in 2009 to $12.2 billion, the agency said.

The bulk of Wall Street's job cuts, meanwhile, are expected to occur this year, with an estimated reduction of 12,600, followed by 7,600 cuts next year, the report said.

Bear Stearns, whose work force of 14,000 includes about 8,000 employees in the city, is widely expected to make extensive job cuts. CNBC, citing unnamed news sources, has said that JPMorgan expects to cut about half of Bear's total work force.

Cuts on Wall Street have a ripple effect, because each financial industry job can create two to three positions in other sectors, from legal to leisure. Private employers may cut 8,000 jobs this year but still hire 9,100 other workers, the report said.

One gauge economists monitor shows that banks and brokers, whose salaries average more than $200,000 a year without counting bonuses, are already feeling the pinch.

Income tax refunds have soared so far this year, to more than double year-ago levels, as individuals who must pay quarterly estimated taxes overestimated how much they would owe, perhaps because they expected to at least match the previous year's income. Typically, higher-income workers are the ones subject to paying estimated quarterly taxes.

Lowenstein said the forecasts assume a "relatively brief and mild recession," and even that outcome would take a big bite out of revenues.

The report estimated that New York City's tax revenues could drop 2.6 percent this year to $36.5 billion, partly due to the downturn in the financial industry. Tax revenues are forecast to drop a further 2.9 percent in 2009, which would push the total down to $35.4 billion.

Such declines would be quite a turnaround. In this century, New York City's tax revenues have fallen fell once, in 2002, after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center intensified an existing downturn.

Meanwhile, New York City's real estate market has fended off much of the weakness seen around the nation, but the pace of deals has slowed. Because office space should remain scarce until new buildings open in 2011, landlords likely will be able to keep raising rents, the report said.

But apartment owners outside Manhattan, where interest by foreign buyers continues to support demand, could see prices soften.

One bright spot is the tourism industry, as New York City benefits from the weak dollar in drawing overseas visitors.

Big deal... I pulled off getting 8 free homes without the purchase of anything else!! Unfortunately, instead of saving or investing the roughly $250,000 I stole, I blew it on Jamba Juice and trips to the manicurist. But it's all good...

but what about the 500 trillion dollar investment notes derived from the promises to pay the interests on housing debt ownerships????????????/ or as rumor has it 20 years of total world productions worth?

I live(sic) in this area. The mess all devolved from open/illegal immigration, and "free and easy" mortgage money. Developers built these shithole condos by the hundreds of thousands, all for speculation, with illegal labor. Real homeowners and American working people are taking it in the ass. Thanks Wall Street/White House, Thanks america.

"$86K for a townhouse...now that is a fair price. with a 6% mortgage that's $500 a month. add in $100 more for taxes and insurance and at $600 it's lower than a rental."

Yes, it could be a great deal, but there are also association dues attached to the condo, plus the occasional assessment. Depending on the age and level of maintenance, the assessments could be $2,000 to $5,000 per unit. The HOA will not collect dues or assessments from the foreclosures, so the rest of the condo association will have to make up the shortfall. At that price, I would bet money that each homeowner will be hit up for $5K - and that's not money that will necessarily add value but rather preserve value.

It's still a great time to rent. The market has another two years until it bottoms out. Stay liquid. Don't buy.

Too bad I can't move to Florida. The commute to my job in Chicago would require that I drive a Lockheed-Martin SR-71 aircraft. Do the homes come with wells spewing out barrels and barrels of Jet-A a day? Blackbird spyplanes are notorious fuel guzzlers!

Commuting jokes aside, will that development become a ghost town like other extreme suburban subdivisions?